4 Important Suicide Prevention Methods To Know

Use these suicide preventative methods the next time you feel like someone you know may be experiencing suicidal thoughts.

Trigger Warning: This post will include mentions of suicide, self-harm, and suicidal ideations. This post may be triggering to some. Please continue at your discretion.

Note: I am not a mental health professional. The information presented in this article should not be used for self-diagnosis or to replace a medical diagnosis from a mental health professional or your primary care physician. The following information is for educational purposes only.

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It can be a shock to hear when your loved one is experiencing suicidal thoughts. In these situations, knowing what to say, act, or help them is challenging. It’s scary to think about. Suicide is the 4th leading cause of death in young people living globally.

While conversations on mental health, suicide prevention, and support are growing, an alarming number of people still suffer from suicidal thoughts or ideation. Unfortunately, there’s so much one can do to make or break a person’s decision to commit suicide. 

However, there is also only so much one person can do. So, before you continue reading this, I need you to understand something. It’s not solely your responsibility to ensure your loved one is safe. But, there are suicide prevention methods you can do to show them that they’re not alone.

Living with constant depression, anxiety, angst, and mixed emotions can be difficult for many people to handle. If your loved one has suicidal thoughts or plans to harm themselves, please call for immediate help.

Suicide Prevention Methods

Give Them Space To Talk Or Vent

When I was suicidal, the one thing I felt was that my emotions could not be described in words. It was frustrating not knowing how to slow my thought processes or to identify each emotion that flew my way. 

People with suicidal thoughts often experience various feelings and emotions simultaneously, which can put their brains into overdrive. As a result, it is challenging to put together words, sentences, and sometimes phrases that make sense out loud. 

Give your loved one time and space to talk about it. This includes:

• Simply sharing the room in silence.
• Stepping out.
• She was expressing love through physical actions such as hugs or hand holding.

When they do start speaking, actively listen. Avoid offering unwanted advice or pressuring them into saying it because that’ll only make them feel more stressed and uncomfortable. 

Use these suicide preventative methods the next time you feel like someone you know may be experiencing suicidal thoughts. Share on X

Encourage Them To Seek Professional Help

Coping with suicidal thoughts and ideations is isolating, depressing, and stressful. Unfortunately, no amount of love, self-care, or tending can put a person at ease once they start having these thoughts. Suicidal thoughts and ideation are a disease of their own and are very difficult to overcome. It takes lots of open communication, emotional support, and time to heal from it. 

If these thoughts persist, you should encourage them to seek professional help. Speaking to an unbiased third party, such as a therapist or psychologist, can help them to heal better and understand their deep-rooted trauma. If they’re not ready to seek professional help, then assist them with finding some low-cost or free mental health services near them.

Empathize With Them

You will never honestly know how a person came to feel this way. However, you can empathize with them and try to understand them. Having empathy means that you can understand and share the emotions of other people. For example, when someone feels suicidal, the last thing they want to hear is unwarranted advice or judgemental thoughts. 

Being empathetic in this situation would mean saying, “‘I can’t imagine how painful this is for you, but I would like to try to understand.” This opens the door for honest and emotional communication, which they need.

Show Up For Them

When I felt suicidal, one of the emotions I felt most was loneliness. Despite having my partner, friends, and family, I always felt like I was alone in feeling like this. It caused me to go down a dark rabbit hole of negative emotions. 

Simply saying that you’re there for them isn’t enough. It would help if you showed it. Some of the ways you can physically show someone that you’re there for them are:

• Pop up on them when they least expect it
• Invite them to hang out and go places with you
• Bring the party to them
• Spend solo time with them
• Sit in silence with them
• Being on time for things
• Not ditching them without an explanation
• Not canceling last minute

How To Know If Someone May Be Suicidal

Sometimes it’s scary to address the elephant in the room: whether or not a person is feeling suicidal. Learning how to identify if someone is feeling this way can save their life. But, it’s essential to be direct and communicate with anyone concerned. Some ways you can ask if someone feels like this are:

1. “Are you thinking about suicide?”,
2. “Are you having thoughts of ending your life?”
3. “Are you thinking about killing yourself?”
4. “Have you had thoughts of harming yourself or others?”

Asking these questions helps to clarify the situation. A person may have suicidal ideation and not be thinking of a plan to follow through. A person may have a plan for committing suicide but no willpower to follow through. Opening the door for your loved one to talk about these thoughts may be the thing they need to start the recovery process. 

However, if you notice that they are acting strangely or if these thoughts are persistent, then please seek professional help. Do not try to tackle this alone. 

Have you ever had suicidal thoughts or helped someone who has? Let me know in the comments.